shannon griffin boudoir
When did real life become undesirable?
When did imperfections become "fixable"?
I LONG for real. I LONG for raw.
This was a mom who took some space to explore herself.
After I left she probably made dinner for her two children in that kitchen and then washed the dishes with those very tools.
For a second, she got to mix her two worlds.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
That is art.
Read MoreBoudoir is about stripping down to bare bones.
But, not in the way one might think.
It’s the permission to let someone else see you in the most vulnerable and raw light.
It’s cracking wide open and letting the hard seep in so that the you can discover and fill in the holes.
Boudoir is pushing away the “one day’s” and “what-if’s” and embracing the right now.
It’s letting the skin that holds you fall apart.
It’s grieving who you once were, while saying hello to who you are.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It is...you are...encompassing.
I was asked to present, as well as lead a styled shoot, at a workshop recently. I knew that I didn’t want a “model” who just showed up at the time of the session and that for this to be meaningful I needed to take the attendees through my process. That meant that I was going to take the woman I would be photographing through my entire process.
Read MoreHealthy love has allowed me to create my most meaningful art. It’s allowed a safe space so that I can let all parts of me leave and then come back anew.
My home life is pretty ordinary and safe. The idea of that used to bore and scare me. It’s most likely because I was so used to the explosions and everyday turbulence of love before.
My art pulls me apart and love reals me in.
I hope to teach my daughter that the greatest love in life isn’t romantic love, but rather love with oneself.
Read MoreI talk a lot about my journey into boudoir.
How it started from a place of darkness and loneliness in my own life. A place of feeling invisible.
Photographing women, giving them a chance to feel seen and have a holistic experience, tricked my brain into thinking that I could give that back to myself. And, it worked.
It gave me the strength to make the changes I needed in my life to get to a place of wholeness and growth. Their bravery was a domino effect and mine soon followed. Okay, maybe a couple of years later, but it still followed and I know that these women had a lot to do with it. How could they not? By creating art with them, our stories were intertwined. I couldn’t tell my story without them and vise versa.
This leads me to my feelings on art being inherently selfish.
Read More
